Medley virtual server ships, MangoSoft product seen as an NT alternative
A new virtual server from MangoSoft Corp. is being positioned as an alternative
to Windows NT servers.
MangoSoft will announce Medley at PC Expo next week in New York. The software,
which targets small business users and home office users, is based on the company's
new CacheLink networking technology, said officials for the Westboro, Mass., startup.
Upon installation, CacheLink can be configured to take up to one half of the available
hard disk space on each Windows desktop in a customer's environment and dedicate it to the
creation of a virtual server.
Having a virtual server enables up to 25 small-business users to share networked applications, files,
peripherals, storage space and Internet access without the cost or maintenance requirements of
a physical server, officials said.
The software also can be installed by users in a matter of minutes, according to
Steven Frank, MangoSoft's CEO, president and founder.
Once installed, Medley looks like a local drive to users and doesn't require a
network administrator.
Those are big advantages for small businesses and for people who are new to computing,
said James Staten, an analyst for Dataquest Inc., in San Jose, Calif. "To have a whole network
appear as a local hard drive makes it much easier to understand," Staten said.
Users need only to be connected via standard Ethernet cards, cabling and a hub in
order to implement the product.
The product also provides some fault tolerance by storing every file in at least
two places in the network.
Furthermore, Medley enables customers to increase the performance of their PCs by
being able to share memory and processing power via the virtual server, said officials.
Although it initially targets very small offices, by the end of this year Medley will be
enhanced to support hundreds of users, said officials.
Convincing larger IT shops to choose the product will still be challenging, said Staten.
"It sounds to them like a low-end solution and a small business solution."
Resellers will either have to persuade larger shops that the product can do more or sell
them on the trade-offs, such as the cost savings of using Medley over an NT server, he said.
The Medley two-seat starter kit will cost $295, with additional seats available at $199 each.
The cost for an additional five users is $899, $1,499 for an additional 10 users and $2,999 for an
additional 25 users this summer.
